Day 76: Spiritual Food in Quarantine

“Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil.” (Eph 6:11)

We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers in heavenly places. That’s a familiar scripture. The preceding exhortation puts it in context - don’t be deceived by the devil. “Diabolos” means divide into two. It also means slander and destroy. The devil sows division to cause destruction, which is his other name (Heb: Abaddon, Gk: Apollyon), by making us think people are our adversary. In effect, Paul is telling us that if we hate our brother and see them as the enemy, we are being tricked by the real enemy. To fight him, we are to put on the full armor of God by standing on truth, righteousness, peace, faith and God’s word, all of which point us toward loving our neighbor and seeing we have been made one with Jesus and with each other. Participate in the Lord’s work of reconciling and restoring, not in the devil’s work of dividing and destroying.